Apparatus for the treatment of cloth.



PatentedSept. 28, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET l.

AVEILIITBIE COPY D. GESSNER.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. I9II- E I f/I/I ZWTO/F I fla D. GESSNER.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF cLoTH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6.19Ih

Patented Sept. 28,?915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2.

YWT VLERSZ'S uaassm. APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6.1911.

1,154,758. Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

n. ecssmw,

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6.19Il.

354,758, Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

5 SHEETS SHEET 4.

:::I J: T

MFA 5 582 6 M ZZZM D. GESSNER.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6.1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

WWI Z2965? avaaaera Corr I UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID GESS N'EB, OE WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CLOTH.

State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in 'Apparatu's for the Treatment of Cloth, of which the following is a specification;

My invention consists of an improvement in the treatment of cloth during its finishing process, and is particularly for the purpose of impart-mg to it qualities of handle, maintaining its proper weight, and insuring a final shrinkage, which, when added towhatever shrinking may havebeen given to the cloth (whether woolen, worsted, orv dress goods), before it reaches the apparatus of this application, gives such shrinking a final set, so that, when handled subsequently by the tailor, or clothing manufacturer, it cannot be very materially affected by any one of the many modes of treatment these people are wont to give to cloth before cutting it into suits.

My present apparatus is preferably attached to the rear end of a rotary press upon floor rails so that, for the purposes .of repair, it can be rolled away from the press to enable the operator to get in between the two machines.

When leaving the rotary press, all cloths, whether worsteds, or woolens, contain a great amount of pressing heat; and it is the general practice to roll up the cloth at the back of the press, and then let the cloth remain upon suchroll until cooled, to have 1t ready for the next operation. Thus, all cloth, wound upon one or more of the laprolls of a rotary press during one day, is generally allowed to remain on the rolls until the next day, when subsequent opera tions may be undertaken with such cloth. For, if opened out immediately, as it comes from the press, and exposed to the air, it loses a great deal of its finish, and when folded, while still warm (instead of rolled at the rear'end of the press), fold-marks are made, which are apt to show afterward. A rotary press also takes out'of the cloth, during pressing, a lot of moisture, whether it be natural moisture contained in the wool fiber, or whether it be moisture artificially imparted to the cloth before rotary pressing. In other words, a piece of cloth weighing say twelve ounces per yard, before en- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 28, 1915 Application filed June a, 1911. Serial No. 631,555.

tering the rotary press, may lose an ounce .or so during rotary-pressing, and, unless somethin be done to restore this moisture,

the weig t will not return for along time.

A piece of cloth coming from a rotary press, and rolled up directly, for commercial purposes, will, at the end of several months, while laying in store-houses, gain very perceptibly in weight and handle, and it is I customary, therefore, with many mills, to store such cloth in dampstore-houses'in or-'- der to'have it reach its proper weight coni tracted for by the purchaser. As this greatly objected to by larger establishments,

owing to the accumulation ofa vast' amount of goods, artificial means of conditioning the cloth have been resorted to after press-v ing, so as to hasten the delivery thereof;

Variousmethods are used in different mills,

4 and different countries; all, however, having the one objectin view to restore the weight,

and with the increased weight and moisture,

improve the handle; particularly of light weight fabrics, and, if they can, aid. the

shrinkage. All this, and more,-I- can do with the apparatus here shown and described, by-bringing the same up to the rotary press, thus making one continuous operation for pressing and conditioning the cloth. The apparatus works the better the closer it is broughttothepress, because the hotter the cloth is as it'enters the cooling chamber, or chill-box, the better. the. effect produced. My conditioning, or coolin chamber, is continuously fed with cold an (lamp air, which is supposed to be kept at as low a temperature as possible, the same, or nearly the same, for instance, as, is maintained in an ice-box, or prevails in a cold storage plant, with the addition, moreover,

that in mv case 'the cold air is moistureladen by being charged, as much as possible,

with water, before entering the cooling chamber. The manner of cooling and humidifying the air need not be setforth in this application, but I desire to state that the colder the damp ai-r forced into the conditioning chamber, the better results will be obtained, because, I depend largely for my results upon the sudden and complete shock which the hot cloth undergoes immediately upon entry into the cold-chamber. The hotter the cloth is at this entrance, and the cooler the damp air is within the chamber, the greater and more abrupt, and,

therefore, intense will be the shock given to the hot fibers of the cloth, which "will then contract, and crimp, and crawl, far

- I deposit the cloth in the cooling chambermore effectually than if the shock received were lighter in extent. 4

I I have found that cloth which is not so very hot on entering the same low damp temperature, as cloth that is of greater heat, will not shrink as effectually as cloth that possesses a higher degree of heat when meet- I ing the chilly blast of the cooling chamber,

and, therefore, the chamber should be arranged as close to the press as is possible; and the cold damp blast should be continuouslykept'at as low a temperature as possible.

upon endless carriers or aprons running in av horizontal position, so that these aprons may support the cloththroughout its entire travel through the chamber, because this is far better for damp cloth than if it were hungup in 100 s, or were made to travelu '1 1 r and down,,in W ich case its own weight ten to stretch-itpwhi'le ."lIl a damp state, and, hence; standsin the wayof a more thorough shrinkage. The slots at-the entrance and exitof the cooling chamber, throu h which the cloth-passes, possess a sma ler area' than the cubic area of the pipes leadingto the chamber, so that there is always a surplus. of cold watenladen airwithin the chamber, in order to allow the cloth to ab .sorb as much moisture aspossible'during its passage. through the machine. Besides, I

' keep up,in' addition, a constant flow of cold water within the chamber whichruns down 7 on opposite'sides thereof into a trough. un-

derneath, which covers practically the entire bottom of thecooling' chamber, to helpmaintain a' highly hydrou's state of air there- The sudden shock the hot 'cloth receives. in the chilly, damp atmosphere ofthe cooling chamber causes it to swell in sub.-

stance, and-improves its handle to a degree not hitherto attainable by any treatment of which Iain aware, while the moisture laden air restores considerable of they weight taken out during rotary pressing.

The invention consists 'in the'improved method and apparatus to be fullydesoribed hereinafter and the novelty of which will be particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed. l

have fully and clearly illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings to be taken as a wherein:

Figure l is a side view of my machine Fig. 2 is anend view in cross section of the of this specification and rear end; if 3 is an end View of the front end of the machine; Fig. 4.- is a top plan View of it, and Figsh and 6 are details of the delivery mechanism at the end of'the machine, a

tion of the chamber.

Referring to Fig. 1, A, A and A are sec-- I A and the slot 3/ on top of the section A the open slot 6 being formed betweenthe boarding d and the hinged cover 0, the open slot 1), being formed. between the boarding The frames are Y (l and the hinged cover 0.- The cover 0 and the cover 0 are shown thrown back in open position in dotted lines in Fig. 1; ordinary hinges 0 being used for the cover 0, and heavy cast-iron hinges 0 being used'for the cover 0, these hinges 0 being connected to.- and swinging fromithe'rod 0 held by the brackets c Between the section A and the sectionA ofthe main frame is fitted a section A",

which might be calleda door, and which is held in. place by the swingjfbolts 0*, and which has attached to it, al so, handles a 'so that, by moving the swing bolts afout of the way, the T operator, bytaking holdubf the handles a, can remove the section A from between "the frames A and A, and thus- I gain access to the interior of the chamber. The end section A of the mainframe of the machine has, .on opposite sides, inserted doors A. which, when opened,;will give access to that end' of the cooling 'chamber. These doors may be protected by 'a'wire screen, and are usually made in the form of a"sash,:to throw 'lightQinto the interior of the chamber.

. A? are brackets fastened tothe section A'.

of the main frame, and have mountednpon them the rolling-up, apparatusfor the, "finished cloth. I v

, A are truck wheels 'at the bottom of-thej main frame, resting upon rails A? upon,

the floor, .7

a. .0. is theelctii'ibeing} treated which, enter ing through the slot b, runs in-the direction of the arrows, and, while passing through the conditioning or cooling chamber, drops onto an endlessapron 'e' strung over a pair of apron rollers-e", and 6 There are a series of such endless aprons e, placed one above the other, and made-of two different lengths, the shorter ones being placed in the upper portion of the chamber, while the longer aprons are located in the lower por- Below',jand close to the last long apron e, at its exit end, near :the bottom of the conditioning chamber, is

a chute consisting of a board 6* oneend of which is placed directly under the apron roll e while the otherend rests. upon the bottom boards (1 of the section A The rolls 6 carry upon one end, outside of their bearings, gears 7'' which mesh into each other. Upon the stud g, screwed into the bracket 71., turns loosely the sprocket i, to which is fastened gear Z, which meshes into the intermediate gear m, immediately above it and revolving loosely upon the stud n, which is adjustably fastened to the bracket 0, the bracket 0 at the same time forming an end bearing for one of the rolls 6', which carries the gear 1), so that motion imparted to the sprocket i will revolve the roll 6', just referred to, which, on its opposite side, car ries the gears f. The entire series of rolls 6, being provided at that end with intermeshing gears f, mot-ion imparted to the sprocket i at the opposite end will, therefore, revolve all the rolls 6', and, through the endless aprons 6, also the rolls 6 rolls 6 are mounted in adjustable bearings e? that can he slid back and forth, so as to enable the operator to keep the endless aprons e tautl This he does by slipping a socket wrench 9' (Fig. 1) provided with a handle, onto the square ends n of the shafts s, which extend across the" conditioning chamber, and which are provided with proper bearings at both ends. On the inside of these hearings the shafts a carry spiral gears t'which mesh with other spiral gears 10 upon spindles, or screws, '0, that engage with the sliding bearings 0 So that, by applying the socket wrench q to the squares r of the shafts s the sliding bearings may be slid out to keep the aprons e taut. The hearings in which the shafts s revolve, as well as the bearings for the rollers e, are fastened to the outside of the main frame, and -are secured in such a manner as to seal them tight against in-rushing air. The sliding bearings of the rollers 6 being placed on the inside walls of the main frame, need no such provision.

Within the cooling chamber, near the short apron rolls 6 and immediately over the topmost long apron, are placed two air drums D in which air is compressed or stored, said drums being of tubular form,-

with curved spouts or mouth pieces D having longitudinal slits or openings D across them through which cold damp air is forced toward the traveling cloth, as it descends i from the top-most of the short aprons to the one immediately below it, and again as it drops from the third to, the fourth apron underneath. A pipe D leading from a blower, directs the chilled damp air into the drums D. The head pieces D (Fig. 2} of the drums D rest upon shelves D fas to the inner walls of the frame members A and closure plates 1) encircle the pipes D and seal the openings in the frame, through which the pipes D from the blower have to pass in reaching the drums, against the at The mosphere ofthe room, where the apparatus is being operated. I v

.Upon the bottom of the coolingv chamber directly underneath, and coextensive "with the long aprons, rests a trough or box-like receptacle B which has an inclined bottom top a pair of brackets F, and near the bottom a second pair of brackets G. Extending across from one bracket F to the other is a perforated brass tube H. (her and around this perforated tube H. is hung an endless cotton apron J depending in a perpendicular position (Fig. 3). In the lower part of this endless apron or bag 3 lies inserted a brass rod H, and onto the ends of this are slipped a couple of screw-eyes K which in turn are held by the brackets G. By taking up the thumb-nuts K on the screw-eyes K, the rod H can be raised or lowered in other words the cotton bag, or endless apron J, can thus be kept taut and properly adjusted; Through a water feed pipe L water and from there it escapes onto the cotton bag, trickling down it, and keeping it saturated as long as the supply from pipe L continues, while the surplus water escapes into the trough B underneath.

Looking at Figs. 1, 3 and 4, it will be noticed that the topmost apron-rollere .has fastened upon its opposite. end from its driven end (where it carries the gear f) a gear a which meshes into a gear 3 fast upon the journal 3 of the small roller 1 located above the topmost apron c, and directly under the hinged cover 0. A pinion 2 is likewise fastened upon journal 3 (at its outer end) and meshes into the gear w immediately above it, and fast upon the journal of the feed-roll TV, so that, as soon as the uppermost of the short apron-rolls e is set in motion by the gear 7' at one of its ends, its opposite end will set in motion also the small roller g and the feed roll \V, located above it.

Looking at Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 there willbe noticed (at the exit end of the machine) a second feed or delivery roll W running in for this feed roll, and connecting this yokeextension with the top of bracket A are short girds A.

' can be fed into the perforated brass-tube H, f

7 is a stationary one a, and the other of Extending about midway between this yoke A and the bracket A lies a shaft C carrying fastened to it two gears C of smaller diameter and C of larger-diameter.

Under hoods or guards C and C,.fa'stened to the tops of girds A is a second pair of gears C andC, which revolve loosely upon shaft W and carry clutch pins that may en gage with corresponding clutch pins in a double-clutch-member C (operated by a clutch handle C splined loosely upon shaft W.

The yoke-shaft C has fastened to it also .cording to the way the operator, throws the clutch-lever C the delivery rollW, may, therefore, be made to travel faster or slower, although. the apron-rolls and remaining rolls travel at a uniform speed.

Straddling two tie-rods a which unite the brackets A are-two rolling up brackets I (L9 having two runs or tracks, one of which which, all, can be reclined when wishing to take down a lap-roll a after it has been wound with a piece' of cloth subsequentto its passage through the cooling chamber. According to the direction of speed given to the delivery roll W, a, roll of cloth may be wound upon a lap-roll (1 and made to follow either the stationary track a, as in Fig.

1, or to run upon the track a, as in Fig. 6.

l/Vhen it is desired to reverse the direction of rotation of the feed roll W, and the laproll a, from that, shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to that shown in Fig. 6, the operator simply throws the chain C oil? the sprocket C and places it around the sprocket C which revolves the opposite di: rection from said sprocket C 4 There are bolted inside of the main-framebrackets A two small open-mouthed guideroll brackets o and c which may contain a guide-roll 6 According to the direction in which the operator desiresto run the feed roll W. he places the guide-roll a either into the open bracket 11 as in Fig. 1, or he puts it into the open bracket 12, as shown in Fig.

6,, because when reversing the direction of rotation of the feed roll W, he must also place the clotha so as to contact with the opposite side of the roll from that used before in order to be able to roll it upon the other rolling-up track of the bracket (1..

The idler 6'' within the last section A of the cooling-chamber, and the still smaller idlers e",e (one attached to the boarding d and the other to the lower side of the trapdoor 0), .as well as theidler e, simply serve I to keep the cloth-line straight when the operator changes the shifting-idler e from 'v.

to v and prevent chafing of the cloth against the edges of the slot 5" between the I boarding d and the trap-door c.

The-little driven roller 1 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4) serves the same purpose at the mouth of the entrance side ofv the machine when the operator opens the trap-door c todrop the cloth-end of a coming piece onto the top apron e. It-require s a straight line for the cloth to travel between the entrance feed roll The curved spouts or mouth pieces D,

with their slots D of the air drums, are placed high, and the drums themselves are made tubular, so that, should occasional drops of water be carried along with the air through the pipes D they can roll to the bottom of the circular walls of the-compressors, and thus will never .pass the slots D and reach the passing cloth a. By removing a few. boards from'the housing or covering d to the rear of the drums, the latter are accessible at any time, whenever this should be necessary.

The operation of my machine is extremely simple. The operator, upon taking the foremost end of a piece of cloth that is just leaving the pressing surfaces of a rotary press, draws the same over and around the entrance-feed-roll W, lifts the trap-door c, and drops the cloth-end upon the uppermost of the endless aprons, which act as cloth carriers, and then shuts the trap-dooragain. As the operator is very likely the same person who is expected to run the rotary press also, he may then return to the press to do whatever work he may have there, while the cloth, dropping from the uppermost apron to the next, and so on, until the lowermost apron is reached, will slide down the chute a, into the bottom of the end-section A where, if the operator should not be on hand just then, quite an amount of cloth can accumulate, and the cloth, being thoroughly cold by that time, vcannot be injured by wrinkles forming at that stage of the process. A glance through the sash in door A- will disclose to the eyes of the operator, whether enough cloth has accumulated in the bottom of the rearmost section of the cooling chamber, to reach, it picked up, to

the final delivery roll W, there to be wound onto a laproll a n; To do, so he simply opens and then shuts again the trap-door 0. Before drawing the end of the cloth over the finaldelivery roll to start a lap around the small lap roll, the operator may, if he wishes, stop that roll entirely, without interrupting the forward passage of the cloth through the rest of the apparatus, by simply throwing his clutch lever G into the position shown in Fig. 5, when the doubleclutch C is out of engagement with'either of the two gears C C, one of which will furnish afaster speed for the delivery roll than the othergear, the speed of which is so gaged as to keep u merely with the 'regular feed of the rest 0 the machine. The operator uses the faster feeding gear occasionally for a few seconds, when he deems the amount of cloth accumulated in the bottom of the cooling chamber more than sufficient. By using the fast feed a few moments, he can take up quickly any over-accumulation of cloth at the chute e which might happen to an inexperienced hand who bungles or takes more time than is necessary to properly start a good lap on one of the lap rolls,

- on top of the back delivery roll W'.,.

If the cloth entering the cooling chamber be run in face-up, it will be rolled up at the final delivery roll W, as shown in Fig. 6.

' That is to say, the lap-roll will be caused to run up track a, and, if the cloth enters the chamber face-down, it will be wound onto a lap-roll running up the track a, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be noticed that the cloth nowhere throughout the entire apparatus is held taut or in a tense condition. It falls loosely and naturally, from apron to apron, and is at all times given every opportunity to contract and shrink, and one side is always fully exposed to the cold damp air, and the other to the cold damp apron alternating constantly from side to side. The cloth-holding capacity of the chamber is large enough to contain at least a'quarter of a length of an entire piece of cloth in order to expose every yard of it for several minutes to the infiuence of both cold and dampness, the atmosphere in the chamber being laden to its limit with water. up with the ordinary speed that rotary presses are run in this country, and therefore insures also quantitatively a satisfactory production, while the quality of work leaves little or nothing to be desired.

\Vhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A machine for treating cloth, comprising a casing, means for propelling a web of cloth through the casing, and means within the casing for passing water verti cally in proximity to the cloth and exposed thereto, but out of contact therewith whereby the cloth is subjected to the vapors given off by the water.

2. A machine for treating cloth, comprising a casing, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in separated stretches, and means within the casing for passing a body of water in proximity to the cloth This enables me to keep but out of contact therewith whereby the cloth is subjected to the vapors given off by the water.

3. A cloth treating apparatus of the char.- acter described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state, and means within the chamber for chilling the cloth, and means for subjecting the cloth to adampening medium.

4. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state, and means in the chamber for blowing a current of chilled air over the cloth and for hydrating the same.

5. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state in a plurality of separated superimposed layers, means for blowing a current of chilled air 'over said layers, and hydrating means inside said chamber.

6. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state in a plurality of separated superimposed layers, means for blowing a current of chilled air over said layers, hydrating means inside said chamber, said hydrating means comprising a vertically disposed absorbent surface, and means for feeding liquid thereto.

7. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state in a plurality of separated superimposed layers,

vmeans for blowing a current of chilled air over said layers, hydrating means inside said chamber, said hydrating means comprising an absorbent surface, means for feeding liquid thereto, and a catch pan beneath the lowermost run of cloth.

8. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of'cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state, comprising a plurality of superimposed endless belts between which the cloth is adapted to be threaded, means for feeding cloth to the uppermost of said belts, a chute for the cloth leading from the lowermost belt, and means within the chamber for subjecting the cloth to a dampening medium while being propelled through. the chamber.

9. A clothtreating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a piece of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state, comprising a. plurality of superimposed endless belts between which the cloth is adapted to be threaded, means for feeding the cloth wise through the chamber in a loose unto the uppermost of said belts, a chute for the cloth' leading from the lowermost belt, winding means arranged to lift the cloth from said chute, and means within the chamber for subjecting the cloth to a damp- I ening medium while being propelled through the chamber.

10, A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth lengthtensioned state, a nozzle extending transversely of the chamber and directed toward being fed through thechamber, and a catch pan beneath the cloth for catching the water. i

12. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a piece of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state, said means consisting of a plurality of superimposed endless belts between whlch the cloth is adapted to be threaded, means for loosely feeding the cloth onto the uppermost belt, and means within the chamber for subjecting the cloth to a dampening medium while being propelled through the chamber.

13. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for supporting and feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose and untensioned state in a plurality of separated superimposed substantially horizontal layers, and means within the chamber for subjecting-the cloth to a dampening medium while being propelled through the chamber.

14:. In a cloth-treating apparatus, achamber, means for feeding a web of cloththerethrough in a single layer, a drum in the chamber, and a supply of chilled air to the drum, the drum having an opening into the chamber.

15. In a cloth-treating apparatus, a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a single layer, a drum in the chamber, a supply of chilledair to the drum, the drum having an outlet'nozzle directed toward the cloth.

16. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in a loose and untensioned state, said means consisting of a plurality of op positely driven superimposed endless belts, said belts being staggered so that one end of each alternating belt projects beyond the adjacent end of the belt next above it, means,

for feeding cloth in a loose state onto the uppermost belt, and means in the chamber for subjecting the cloth to a dampening,

through the chamber.

17. In an apparatus for treating cloth, a

. chamber, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough, a horizontally disposed perforated pipe at the side of the path of movement of the cloth, a sheet of moisture-carrying material hung to receive liquid from said pipe, and means for admitting a blast of chilled air into the chamber, said chamber walls having removable side panels or doors .to permit access to the interior thereof.

18. In an apparatus for treating cloth, a chamber, means for introducing air and moisture into the chamber, means for feed ing cloth back and forth through the'chamher in loose condition, a supplemental cham .medium during the passage of the cloth her to receive the cloth from the feeding means, and wmding means for withdrawing the cloth from the supplemental chamber.

' 19. In an apparatus for treating cloth, a chamber, means for introducing air and moisture into the chamber, means for feeding cloth back andforth through the chamber in loose-condition, a supplemental chamber to receive the cloth from the feeding 'means, a chute to direct the cloth from the feeding means to the supplemental chamber, and Winding means for withdrawing the cloth from the supplemental chamber. a

20. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a chamber, means for feeding a piece of cloth therethrough in a loose untensioned state, and

. ing of a plurality of superimposed endless belts between which the cloth is adapted to be threaded, means for loosely feeding the cloth onto the uppermost belt, and means within the chamber for continuously subjecting the cloth to a ampening medium while being propelled through the chamber.

22. A cloth treating apparatus'of the character described, comprising a chamber, means .for feeding continuously a web of cloth lengthwise therethrough, and means within the chamber for subjecting the cloth to water vapors, said last-named means comprising a vertically disposed member of absorbent material, and means for feeding water thereto. 7

23. A cloth treating apparatus of the character described, comprising a.chamber,

means for feeding continuously a web of the web of cloth, but out of contact therewith, and means for supplying a dampening medium to said member.

24. A machine for treating cloth, comprising a means for propelling a stripof cloth in substantially parallel stretches, and means for exposing a vertically disposed body ofwater in proximity to said stretches but out of contact with theclothwhereby the cloth is-subjected to the vapors given oil by the water.

25. A machine for treating cloth, comprising a casing, means for propelling a strip of cloth through the casing in separated stretches, and means within the casing for exposing abody of water from the top portion to the'bottom portion of the casing in proximity to said stretches but out of contactwith the cloth whereby the cloth is subjected to the vapors given off by the water.

26. A machine for treating cloth, comprising a casing, means for propelling a strip of cloth in substantially separate stretches, a member of absorbent material disposed adjacent to but out of contact. with the cloth, and means for supplying water to said member whereby the cloth is subjected to water vapors given oif by the water.-

27. A machine for treating cloth, comprising means for propelling a stripof clot in substantially horizontal parallel stretches, and in an untensionedstate, vertically disposed members of absorbent material arranged on opposite sides of said stretches and in proximity thereto, but out of contact therewith, and means, to supply a dampening medium to said members.

28. Amachin'e for treating cloth, comprising means for propelling a strip of cloth in substantially horizontal parallel stretches, and in an untensioned state, vertically disposed members of absorbent material arranged on opposite sides of said stretchesand in proximity thereto, but out of contact therewith, means to supplya dampensaid last-named means ing medium to said members, and a receptacle beneath the stretches of cloth and adapted to catch the dampening medium flowing from said members.

29. A machine for treating cloth, comprising a casing, means for feeding a'web of cloth therethrough in separated stretches, and means within the casing for passing a body of water in. a substantially vertical direction in proximity to the cloth but out of contact therewith whereby the cloth is subjected to vapors given ofi by the water.

30. A machine for treating cloth comprising a casing, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in separated stretches,

and means within the casing for passing a body of .water in a substantially vertical direction in proximity to the cloth but out of contact. therewith whereby the cloth is subjected tovapors given 011? by the water, said means comprising a vertically disposed member, and means for flowing water onto the surface of said member.

- 31. A machine for treating cloth comprising a casing, means for feeding a web of cloth therethrough in separated stretches in a loose and untensioned condition with the 'cloth supported free of its weight exerted longitudinally thereof, and means within the chamber for passing, an exposed body of water in proximity. to the cloth but out of contact therewith whereby the cloth is' subjected to thevapors given ofi by the water.

32. A machine for treatingcloth, comprising a casing, means for propelling a web of cloth through the casing, and means for passing a'body or relatively cold water in proximity to the cloth, but out of contact therewith'whereby thecloth is subjected to the vapors given ofi by the water.

In testimony whereof, I havehereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. DAVID GESSNER.

Witnesses: M. E. MCNINCH,

O. G. HEYLMUN.

Corrections in Letters Paten t' No. I l-5 4,7 5 8.

Itis hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,154,758, granted Septeniber I 28,1915, upon the applieation of David Gessner, of Worcester, Massachusetts, for" an improvement in Apparatus for the Treatment of Cloth, errors appear the printed specification requiring correction as followsz Page 2, line 76, for

reference-letter b readb; same page, line 7 7 for the referenceJletter'b read b; page 4, 1ine 79, for the word requires read insures; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of October, A. D., 1915. Y

R. F. WHITEHEAD, W

[sun] I Acting Cmnm'iss'i'onef f 

